


What the Doctor Really Did

by tiptoeingwayfinder



Category: Doctor Who, Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-07
Updated: 2013-04-07
Packaged: 2017-12-07 17:51:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/751322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiptoeingwayfinder/pseuds/tiptoeingwayfinder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor thinks he's guilty of hurting his dearest companions when an angel of the Lord comes to him and shows him what he's really done.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What the Doctor Really Did

The Doctor sat in the TARDIS, his face in his hands. He recited what he’d been forcing himself to believe. “I am done helping people. I can’t save people anyway. I can’t save anyone. Why try? I’ll only let them down.” He looked around the empty TARDIS, which felt so much bigger on the inside when it was just him. He closed his eyes and remembered. Rose’s smile. Martha’s sense. Donna’s sarcasm. Little Amelia’s laugh. Amy. His Pond. The first face he saw. The one who stayed. The girl with the crack in her wall. The Scottish girl living in London. His closest, dearest friend. Rory. Her husband. The boy who waited. The Last Centurion. The only man with eyes as old as The Doctor’s. The man he trusted with Amy, with River Song, with his life. Gone. They’re all gone now.  
As he remembered the faces he couldn't help but hurt, he heard the faint sound of wings. He wondered what manner of creature could be floating about outside. The TARDIS was concealed from the outside. He looked up and his eyebrows furrowed. A man stood in front of him. He wore a tan trench-coat. His eyes didn't look human. He hadn't seen eyes like that in a long time. This mysterious man spoke in a deep, gravelly voice, “Hello, Doctor.” The Doctor’s confusion grew denser. Who was this man?  
“Who are you?” The Doctor asked. His tone wasn't demanding or defensive. He was alone, weary, and curious.  
“I’m Castiel,” the figure replied, “I’m-,” Castiel paused for a moment, as if he fought the words he was preparing to say. “I’m an angel of the Lord.”  
The Doctor almost smiled for the first time in months. So there really was a God to help the people he couldn't. Then a million questions sprang up in his mind, the biggest one being this: If there has been a God all this time, why am I always having to save His people?  
He looked at the angel called Castiel and, without sounding harsh or ungrateful, asked, “Why have you come here, Castiel?”  
Castiel pierced the Doctor with his clear blue eyes, eyes that reflected the same kind of experience and knowledge and sadness The Doctor had. “I’m here to raise you from the perdition of your own mind.” The Doctor froze. He thought of what someone else had once said to him: “You look sad when you think no one can see you.” Could it be true? Had people and angels and God really been noticing all along?  
Castiel continued, “I’m here to get you back to the people you love. Creatures like you and I, who have seen all of space and time develop, it’s not good for us to be alone like you have been. I don’t know what I would do without-,” he paused and then shook his head to dismiss the thought, whatever it was. “Never mind that. Doctor, you need people.”  
The Doctor knew he couldn’t deny the truth of what the angel said, but how could he just go back? Every person who met him ended up worse off somehow. He looked up at Castiel and said, “I make lives worse. I can’t help one without hurting another so I don’t really help at all. Why, of all people, why me?” Castiel looked The Doctor dead in the eye and said the words he had first said to Amelia Pond, “Because you are not people.” With that the inside of the TARDIS melted away and The Doctor’s feet landed on soft grass.  
"Where the hell am I?! And where is my TARDIS?!" The Doctor demanded. Castiel didn't answer but gestured for the timelord to look all around them. That's when The Doctor realized where he was. He was on a beach he had been to before. Badwolf Bay, Rose had called it, and there she stood just a few yards away. Rose Tyler. Defender of Earth. It had been years since he'd seen her beautiful face. She was glowing. Happy. The man standing beside her had dark hair that stood up in funny ways, and The Doctor remembered that it used to be him. Another Doctor. One created especially for Rose, he liked to think, because his destiny was River Song. He watched her with this version of himself, and suddenly he heard the laughter of little children. Two kids, a boy and a girl, ran around chasing each other, and the boy hid behind Rose's legs. She looked down at him lovingly, and that's when The Doctor realized that there were two more Tylers in this world. He hoped they were Tylers. Doctor doesn't seem like a satisfactory last name.  
He had forgotten Castiel was there until the angel spoke, saying, "You see now? Without you, Doctor, Rose Tyler would have stayed in your universe, working silly jobs and never being happy. Now she's happy. She's in love and she has a husband and children." The Doctor looked to Castiel with proud tears in his eyes and said, "Yes. I see. Rose Tyler is happy and I didn't screw up her life. May I, erm, may I speak to her?" The angel nodded and disappeared suddenly, leaving him alone to talk to the happy family.  
He walked down the beach and the couple heard his footsteps. Rose looked up and smiled curiously, "Hi there, stranger! What's your name?"  
"Rose Tyler," The Doctor stopped and Rose looked alarmed. Then she looked into his eyes, and he saw her realize who he was. "Doctor?" She asked warily. He nodded. An enormous smile spread across her face and she threw herself into his arms. He hugged her back and laughed, setting her down and putting his hands on her shoulders. He looked into her incredible eyes and said, "Rose Tyler. How are you, love?" Rose laughed a familiar laugh and took her husband's hand. "I'm brilliant. How are you, Doctor? I haven't seen you in years!" He looked at her and nodded, heart full. "I'm great, too." He looked to his one-hearted clone and said, "How are things here for you?" He looked at Rose and back at The Doctor and squeezed his wife's hand, "I couldn't be better, mate." The Doctor nodded and two little figures gathered at his sides, giggling. Rose looked at The Doctor and grinned, "These two little monsters are Sally and Lawrence. The greatest kids anyone could ask for." The kids looked at him warily and then tugged on their parents sleeves.  
The Doctor took that as his cue to move on. He looked at Rose and said, "I'm so glad for you, Rose." She smiled at him inquisitively and said, "Heading off so soon?" He said yes and she hugged him again. "Goodbye, my dear Doctor. You are always welcome here." He shook hands with the other Doctor and turned his back on Rose Tyler, comforted it knowing that she is happy. She doesn't need him. Rose Tyler can defend the Earth on her own.  
Castiel met The Doctor as he walked away. "Okay," said The Doctor, "Rose Tyler is happy. But that doesn't prove-," Castiel cut him off, "Doesn't prove that you help people? Don't worry Doctor, you have a long journey ahead."


End file.
